Fluid clutch



L. F. KNIGHT FLU.ID CLUTCH Nov. Z4, 1953 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 13, 1949 /NPUT QUADRANT PUMP/N6 QuADRA/VT lizvemfar [OR/v5 F. KNIGHT Z 4 By 72 Aii'ys PUMP/N6 QuAoRANT /NPUT QuA DRANT Nov. 24, 1953 Filed May 15, 1949 L. F. KNIGHT FLUID CLUTCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 [ORNE f7 KNIGHT Aii'vs Nov. 24, 1953 L. F. KNIGHT FLUID CLUTCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May l5, 1949 Jive/liar [ORNE E AN/GHT A Zi'ys iatented Nov. 24, 1953 FLUID CLUTCH Lorne F. Knight, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, assignor to Massey-Harris Co. Ltd., Toronto, On-

tario, Canada Application May 13, 1949, Serial No. 92,981

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in fluid clutches of the fluid locking type.

In relatively heavy duty types of vehicles, such as tractors and the like, the clutch is required to transmit the driving force under nearly full-load conditions for a considerable period of time in various operations. Purely mechanical or friction clutches, although used widely in such applications are subject to considerable wear necessitating parts replacement usually more frequently than is desirable. By the nature of the type of work to which tractors are adapted, the engine drive mechanisms must in all cases be kept as simple as possible and be readily accessible for replacement and/or repair. Under these circumstances, prior fluid clutches are not helpful because of undue complication in the components. These characteristics result in a relatively high cost of manufacture and lead to diificulties of maintenance. Further, prior fluid clutch devices generally are not adapted in their characteristics for design according to a substantially full-load condition for a relatively long period of time.

According to the present invention, a fluid clutch of the fluid locking type and of simplified character is provided which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and which utilizes an inward flow pumping principle. A simple internal valve element is adopted which may serve to increase the pumping resistance of fluid circulation until finally fluid lock is obtained by means of the valve element completely interrupting fluid circulation according to the actuation of a clutch pedal by the operator.

The invention will now be described more particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein,

Figure 1 is a view of the clutch of the present invention with a cover plate removed, the same being view I-I of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the clutch device of Figure 1 showing both cover plates and the valve device in place.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the pump rotor of the clutch including the clutch valve element slidable axially therein.

Figure 4 is a general view of a suitable clutch pedal assembly mounted in conjunction with the clutch of the present invention associated with a driving motor.

Figure 5 is a general elevation of the preferred method of mounting the present clutch in a motor drive and transmission system.

Figure 6 is a sectional view of a modified form of control port wherein the port is shaped to provide smooth action in the clutch.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the clutch of. the invention is comprised of a mainhousing or casing [0 formed of the rear cover or side plate II and the mounting or front side plate or cover I2 held spaced apart by an outer separating ring I3 and fastened together by suitable bolts M. The front cover 12 is fastened to the fly-wheel say of adriving motor or isotherwise connected to the driving shaft of the motor or engine served by the present clutch by means of the mounting plate l5 and suitable bolts (not shown). Obviously, however,the front cover l2 may be fastened in any suitable manner to a driving shaft.

The separating ring 13 includes an inner eccentric bore it which preferably is doubly eccentric as illustrated in Figure 1. The ring 56 is of enlarged width with regard to the separating ring l3 and is machined on its side faces IT to serve as a spacer for the port plates l8 which are in the form of annular rings held into engagement with the faces ill by the shoulders or stepped portions l9 and 20 of the front cover 12 and rear cover I I respectively. As illustrated in Figure 1 the port plates 68 each carry a series of ports 2! arranged in the designated input quadrants of the clutch- It is now relevant to discuss the rotor pumping structure which is operatively connected to the transmission of the vehicle. Thus, in Figure 1 the transmission shaft 22 has the splined end portion 23 seated in the rotor carrier socket or 24 has a flange 3t recessed'inwardly as at 3| to accommodate the inner annular shoulder 32 of the pump rotor structure 33. I

Referring also to Figure 3 the rotor structure I 33 is comprised of an annular body having radially disposed cut-away portions or sockets 34 designed to slidably accommodate eccentric type pumping vanes 35 which preferably include spring means (not shown) designed to normally urge the same outwardly under light spring pressure. Between each pumping vane is located a reservoir. pocket 36 through which pumped fluid is conducted inwardly to a control port 31. As shown in Figure 1 the control ports constitute only a limited portion of .the width dimension of the rotor 33 and terminate in the inner surface 38 of the rotor to deliver fluid into the inner annular chamber 39 when unobstructed. According to the invention, however, a control valve member 40 is utilized which carries at its actuating end 41 an actuating collar 42 mounted thereon by a suitable bearing 43 if desired. From the actuating end 4| the valve member continues in the form of. a sleeve portion 44 steamymounted on the rotor carrier 24 and terminating in the valve flange 45 which is carried by the supporting web 46. The inner surfaces of the flange 45 and web 46 in conjunction with the adjacent surfaces of the rotor carrier 24 constitute the boundaries of the chamber 39; the valve member 40 being designed for slidable movement in the axial direction to cause the flange 45 to close over the control ports 31 a progressive manner. In the withdrawn position of the valve member as illustrated in Figure 4 the control ports are completely open to the chamber 39. and are not obstructed in any manner by the flange 45.

The rotorbody 33- is held in assembled relav tion with the rotor carrier 24 by means of the retaining member 41 having a flange 48 designed to grip the shoulder portion 49 of the rotor body; The flanges 48 and 30 are held fixed to the rotor by means of suitable bolts 50 passing through the latter.

The retaining member carries a suitable can bear-ing- 52 held within the stepped portion 53 by the locking ring 54- fastenabl'e theretoby me'an'sof the threads 55. Bearing 52 rests also in the annular recess 56 of the rear cover-or side plate H beingheld fixed with respect thereto and in alignment by means of theretaining ring 51 fastened to the side plate by means of suitable bolts 58 and including an inner depending annular flange 59 holding a felt sealing ring- 60.

It will be observed that: the-inner walls 6 I and; 62 of the front and; rear eeversres'pectivelydefine boundaries of a reservoir 63 in conjunction with; the rotor structure; The reservoir 63'is comprised oi the annular chambers 64 and; 65' which are in communication with one another by wa er input porter-r in the region or the.

input quad-rants since in; such regions the outer surfacesof the rotorhkidyare in spaced apart.

riation to the inner-surfaces of acresis ofthe eccentric ring Hi;

, As shown the rehear e it a steamythreaded stopper 'fitfinserted in thethrea'ded opening- 61 through which a, suitableoil or other clutch fluid may be introduced into the, chamber or reservoir 63; Preferably a small air space is ft inthe reservQir.

.h fqrera n h Outer musing and the centric ringw l3 will" be caused to in coiiriter clockwi'se direction sayg in Figure 1, as.

u t d by arrow Y It wil be ssume an the actuating member, '40 iswithdrawn whereby the control ports 31, have free access to the an m b amb 3 1 illu t ateein 1. In. dition 'whfer'e thefshjait 2g lags the rat ns i ht h s a. 1 ns r a t in t uadr t -W 11- c us fl d fluidinth'e r vo r b drawn. throushthe input po'rts 2+. this fluid; riedhr the. rotor vanes to the outn'ut I111.acirajnhshe. fluid will be fo d inwa d y. through the reservoir nortsifi andcontrol ports 31 to the annular chamber 39; The web 46- of the control valve member 40 data. rie's-fa plurality or communicating ports sewn-era by the 'clutchfluid i's allowed to pass to thesec' on'dary annular chamber: 6-9 are thence through.

the discharge parts ic-in the retaining flange 48 to the reservoir 63. The pumped clutch fluid.

; culating through each of chambers 64 and 65 and; inwardly through the common rotor is in the general form of two bodies of fluid each in the general disposition of toroid segments in the region 6f the'inputquadrants. Adjacent and opposed toroid segments have fluid flow during the pumpingaction' each toward the other and inwardly and commonly of the rotor.

the flanges 45 of the control valve member 40 are advanced over the control ports 31 by the operator advancing the actuating end 4|, the resistance to the pumping action in inward toroidal circulation or flow is increased whereloi rotative movement is imparted to the rotor and shaft 22; In the final olosed position of the valve, member fluid flow is completely interrupted and fluid locking effect takes place whereby the housing structure and the rotor and shaft 22 move to ether.

tending from the collar 42 for actuation of the valve member. It will be apparent that many alternatives are available in; the specific mounting of the clutch housing It to the fly-wheel 75 say of an engine 76. Whatever'speciiic arrange= meet is. resorted to in themounting of the clutch and the actuation of its valve member, the advantages of the. simplicity aliorded by the structure ofth'e present invention will be realized;

When thjevalve member is in the full open position so that the control ports 37 are unobst'rllQtQQ the circulation of the fluid in the pump asc nds upon the difference in fluid conducting areas, of the. control ports 31 and the input Ports 2|}.

achiever, in order to accomplish smooth action of varyin the resistance or fluid flow in. the.

clutch Ip erer to shape. the control portsas indicatedby the sectional view. oi acontrol port 3.1a in Figure 6. This view is in a directionradially and inwardly or; the rotor on. a. circumferential linerbetween, the inner chamber of the rotor and; a reservoir pocket 36. In any case, it willbc appreciatedthatiit iscnly the exit contour ot the ccntroliport which-is essentially important in this connection. It will beobserved in the figrue that the-fiangefiscri the valve. member 4:0 advances in the. direction or arrowvX inthe closing action and at first quickly decreases the sectional area of he port. its advancingmovement. The port is shapedfiso: that the remaining cut-off action or valve action gradually increases fluid; flow re sistance until the p'brt is: sealed-by the flange 45.

@bviously various. forms. maybe resorted to in order to accomplish. a substantially straight: line relationship with respect to the movement orthe Therefore, the shape I v A factorworthy of mention'in connection with the present clutch is that, due to the inward pumping action, that is to say the flow of the pumped fluid inwardly of the rotor, heating of the oil or clutch fluid during torque transmission is modified due to the effect of centrifugal forces, that is to say, the warmer fluid will be of slightly less density and will tend to stay in the centre region of the fluid reservoir. Therefore, during the pumping action, the fluid drawn by the pump vanes will be the coolest of the fluid in the reservoir. This is a substantial advantage in that temperature conditions by nature of the direction of flow of the fluid are kept to a minimum in the type of clutch described. With regard to heating, in certain cases, I prefer to include radiating vanes or fins or other radiating means on the exterior surfaces of the housing and clutch components. This will usually only be required, however, where the clutch is of a heavy duty type required for extended duty cycle operations and where the volume of fluid in the reservoir must be kept to a minimum. 7

It will be appreciated that when the valve member is open and the clutch is eifectively free running a suitable braking device obviously should be provided to arrest rotation of that shaft extending to a gear change or drive ratio device so that a gear change may be effected without damage or undue noise.

Obvious alternatives will be evident in the specificform of the various components from the point of view of facility of assembly and the like. The spirit of the invention however pertains to the inclusion of an inner valve member controlling an inwardly flowing circulatory system of fluid pumping in toroidal disposition in an eccentric pumping device with the attendance of simplicities of structural arrangement illustrated. It is intended that the present disclosure should not be limited in any sense aside from the scope illustrated by the following claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a hydraulic clutch of the sliding vane class, the combination of: a housing in the form of an outer rotatable casing forming one clutch element; a vane carrying rotor of annular form in said casing; a rotor carrier in the form of a hollow shaft flared at one end to provide a radially extending mounting flange thereon; means supporting said rot-or carrier co-axially with said rotatable casing; means for fastening said mounting flange to said rotor to support the latter co-axially with said rotor carrier and in annular spaced apart relation to the hollow shaft portion of the latter to define an annular chamber between said rotor and said rotor carrier; radially directed fluid conducting passages extending through said rotor between the sliding vanes carried thereby; a valve of annular form designed to articulate over the inner terminus of the passages of said rotor and slidable axially in said annular chamber; and a sleeve forming a part of said valve supported by the hollow shaft portion of said rotor carrier and extending therebeyond exteriorly of the housing in a direction away from the flange portion of the rotor carrier.

2. In a hydraulic clutch of the sliding vane class, the combination of: a, housing in the form of an outer rotatable casing forming one clutch element; a vane carrying rotor of annular form in said casing; a rotor carrier in the form of a hollow shaft flared at one end to provide a radially extending mounting flange thereon; means supporting said rotor carrier co-axially with said rotatable casing; means for fastening said mount ing flange to said rotor to support the latter coaxially with said rotor carrier and in annular spaced apart relation to the hollow shaft portion of the latter to define an annular chamber between said rotor and said rotor carrier; radially directed fluid conducting passages extending through said rotor between the sliding vanes carried thereby; a valve of annular form designed to articulate over the inner terminus of the passages of said rotor and slidable axially in said annular chamber; a sleeve forming a part of said valve supported by the hollow shaft portion of said rotor carrier and extending therebeyond exteriorly of the housing in a direction away from the flange portion of the rotor carrier; a shaft slidable axially within the hollow shaft portion of said rotor carrier; and means connecting said shaft with said rotor carrier for rotation therewith.

3. In a hydraulic clutch of the sliding vane class, the combination of a housing in the form of an outer rotatable casing forming one clutch element; a vane carrying rotor of annular form in said casing; a rotor carrier in the form of a hollow shaft flared at one end to provide a radially extending mounting flange thereon; means supporting said rotor carrier co-axially with said rotatable casing; means for fastening said mounting flange to said rotor to support the latter coaxially with said rotor carrier and in annular spaced apart relation to the hollow shaft portion of the latter to define an annular chamber between said rotor and said rotor carrier; radially directed fluid conducting passages extending through said rotor between the sliding vanes' sages of said rotor and slidable axially in said annular chamber; a sleeve forming a part of said valve supported by the hollow shaft portion of said rotor carrier and extending therebeyond exteriorly of the housing in a direction away from the flange portion of the rotor carrier; side walls forming a part of said housing and rotatable casing, disposed in spaced relation to said vane carrying rotor to define fluid reservoirs on either side thereof; and means communicating said annular chamber between said rotor and said rotor carrier, with said reservoirs.

4. In a hydraulic clutch of the sliding vane class, the combination of: a housing in the form of an outer rotatable casing forming one clutch element; a vane carrying rotor of annular form in said casing; a rotor carrier in the form of a hollow shaft flared at one end to provide a radially extending mounting flange thereon; means supporting said rotor carrier co-axially with said rotatable casing; means for fastening said mounting flange to said rotor to support the latter co-axially with said rotor carrier and in annular spaced apart relation to the hollow shaft portion of the latter to define an annular chamber between said rotor and said rotor carrier; radially directed fluid conducting passages extending through said rotor between the sliding vanes carried thereby; a valve of annular form designed to articulate over the inner terminus of the passages of said rotor and slidable axially in said annular chamber; a sleeve forming a part of said valve supported by the hollow shaft portion of said rotor carrier and extending therebeyond exteriorly of the housing in a direction away from the flange portion of the rotor carrier;

7} side wane forming a pa rotatable easing, disposed spaeedrelation to said vane carrying rotor-to defineflni'd reservoirs on either side thereof; means communicating said annular chamber between saidrotor and said rotor carrier with saidreservoi-rs; an annular port pi'at'e on -'eacl-1= sideof said rotor closely engaging the side thereof but spaced from said rotor carrier; and a plurality of input ports" eachport plate.

5 In a hyarauir 'cliiteh or the sliding vane class; the combinatien ofz ahousing theform of an outer rotatable casing for-m g one clutch element; a. vane carry-mg rotor of annular form in said casing; a rotor earned in the form of a hollow 'shafitflared at -one end to: provide a rad i allyextending mounting fiange' tl-ie're'o mea ssinaportingz said rotor- 'car'ri'ed ctr-axially with said rotatable casing; means for fastening said mounting flange to said rotor tosupport tn-e Tatter coaxially with said rotor carrier and in an spaced: apartrelation to the hollow shaft portion of the latter to define an annular chamber between said rotor and: said rotorcarrier; radially directed fluid conducting passages extending through said rotor between the: sliding vanes: carried thereby: a) valve: of annular form designed. to: articulate over the inner terminusof. therpassag'eszoi said: rotor and. slidable: axially in: said:v annular chamber; a: sleeve forming a: part ot-said idlVEfSlIPDOIfiGdTbY the hollowshait portiomof said rotor -carrier-ai'rd extending therebeyond exteriorly: of the? housing in "ax-direction away from the flange portion of the r'o to'r carrier; side walls forming a part or "said. housing and rotatable casing, disposed. spaced: rela tion to said vanecarrying, rotor to define fluid reservoirs on either side thereof; means com.- municating. said-annular chamber between said: rotor and -said-xrotor carrienwith'said: reservoirs; and; a separating; ring: formingcapart" of said; rortatableoasing. extending about said rotor. and having-,9,- doubly eccentric bore defining pumping; andeinputrquadrants for. said. clutch in conjuncrtioni-with' said rotor.

6L1]? a. hydraulic? clutch of the sliding vane; class; the combination of: a housing-intheform:

v of said housing 8 01 an outer rotatable easing forming one clutch element; a vane carrying rotor of annular form in said casing; a rotor carriedin the form of a hollowsha'ft flared at one end to provide a rad'i any extending mounting flange thereon; means supporting said rotor carrier eo-axi'ally with said rotatable casing; meansfor fastening said moiinting flange to -said rotor to support the latcoae'ii'ally' withsaid rotor carrier and inannular-spaced apart relation to the hollow shaft portion of the-latter to-define an annular chamberybetween said rotor and said rotor carrier; radially directed fluid eon-ducting passages extending through said rotor between the sliding vaneseari i'ed thereby; a valve of annular form desi" ed to ar'tieulate over the inner terminus or he passa e of saic l-rotor an'd slidable axially dannular'chainber; a sleeve forming a part of saicli valve. supported by the hollow shaft portibia; of. said rotor carrier and extending therebeyo'hd eiteriorly of the housing in a direction away rmm the flangeportion of the rotor carrier; side walls forming a part of said housing and rotatable casing, disposedinspaced relation to said vane carrying rotor '00- define fluid reservoirs on either side thereof; means communicating said hanib'er between said rotor and said otorcarrier','with said reservoirs; a separatin'g' ring forming apartof' said rotatable casing extending about said rotor and ha ving adoubly eccentric bore defining pumpingand input quadrants for said clutch conjunction with said rotoran annular port plate extending from said separating-"ring" radially inwardly on each side of said 0116-1" but SE'BJ'CBdfrom Said T'Ot'or carrier; ands series'of input ports in each 'port plate in "opposed input quadrants of said clutch.

LORNEF. KNIGI-IIr Refereircesitedin the file of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS Number Name Date:

L,136,1\ 68 Rich i Apr. 20 '19.I5 l i-86,1321 Rich June/6, 1916 2305-23429 Tyler Aug; 26, 1936 2,115,244 Savage V Apr: 2&1938' 

